Safe Routes to School

Safe Routes to School is a program that:

• encourages and educates children and parents on the benefits of walking and rolling (skateboard, bike, scooter, carpool, and school or SMART bus) to and from school. To learn about Walk+Roll to School Day events click HERE.
• works to ensure safe, healthy, and fair outcomes for low-income students, students of color, and students of all genders and abilities. 

What are the benefits?

• Educates the community about the benefits of walking and rolling to and from school.
• Improves transportation for all students, parents, and teachers.
• Reduces the number of driving trips to and from schools to improve air quality and congestion.
• Identifies supporters in schools to build the program and coordinate activities.
• Educates youth on how to safely use the system when they are walking and rolling.
• Enhances children’s health and well-being.
• Eases traffic congestion and air quality near schools.
• Improves community members’ overall quality of life.

Please contact SMART for any SRTS support or questions. 

Volunteering for SMART

Volunteering is a great way to support the community. Volunteers for SMART could assist at events such as Bike Rodeos or Learn to Ride Bike Clinics. 

To apply to volunteer for SMART Click Here.

Parent Champion!

Become a Parent Champion! The SRTS program relies on parent volunteers and is a vital connection to increasing the number of students who walk, bike or roll to school. Parent volunteers work to organize events, spread the word to other parents and school staff, act as liaisons between SMART and their child’s school, and much, much more. 

SMART hopes that more parents, grandparents, and caregivers will get involved and act as Parent Champions for their schools. 

SchoolPool

SchoolPool is an online tool that is part of the Get There Oregon platform, hosted by the Oregon Department of Transportation, that helps match parents and caregivers who are driving alone to school with other drivers from the same school to share rides. This tool is free to use for K-12 schools in Oregon.

Get Recognized

The Oregon SRTS Recognition Program helps us celebrate the great work happening around the state, as well as being a helpful way for schools/districts to learn more about the SRTS activities and resources available throughout the state. 

Click here for the Google Form application.

Grants and Funding

Metro Safe Routes to School Small Grants: SRTS Mini-Grants (up to $5000) and Micro-Grants ($500), to support public K-12 schools/districts and non-profit PTOs, are available on a continual basis.

ODOT Innovative Mobility Program (IMP): up to $5000 to fund a project aimed at improving access to public transportation, reducing the number of trips Oregonians make by car, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The IMP has a special focus on equity and helping historically excluded groups to get to where they need to go more quickly, cheaply, and safely. Organizations are limited to two grants in a 12-month period. 

ODOT SRTS Advisory Committee

The Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee (SRAC) consists of approximately 15 volunteers who have been appointed by the ODOT Director. The committee meets at least quarterly and is charged with recommending projects for funding in ODOT’s Safe Routes to School Infrastructure and Non-Infrastructure Grant Programs.